Broken Fairytale
by Laura369
Summary: It has been said that grief is a selfish emotion. The emotion there for the one's that lived, not for the ones that died. That's all Ryan feels as he visits Marissa's grave.


A/N- One-shot I have been thinking about seeing the previews for the season four premiere. Not much else to say.

Broken Fairytale

"_A man's dying is more the survivors' affair than his own."_

The cemetery was dark, but cemeteries always seemed dark. Headstone after headstone, it was a boggling idea. Each headstone had a family, friends, and just loved ones in general. For each headstone there were many people just like him, grieving and not knowing what to do. On this night, he was alone in the cemetery. It was the first time he had been there since the funeral. The first time he really looked and cared. The day of the funeral was a blur. Guilt, the emotion that made all of this so hard, it was his fault in his own mind. No one had told him it was his fault, not one person had blamed him, yet all he felt was guilt. The feelings of guilt were not only for that night, the night of the accident, but from day one, when they first met.

She was supposed to have the fairytale life. She had grown up in a wealthy family; she had everything she ever wanted. Then he came into the picture. Sure, other things happened that he had no control over, but he was the only thing that had drastically changed. Once their friendship blossomed into a romance he thought, that they as a couple could have her fairytale life. They would date all the way through high school, attend college together, get amazing jobs, move back to the place where it all began, and start their life together. They had been through their ups and downs. Crazy stalkers, pregnant ex-girlfriends, criminal brothers, shootings, close friends dying, and about anything else possible to happen to a person. They had a messy relationship, both in a friendly matter and romantic way.

That day, it was supposed to be the last time they saw each other for a long while but not forever. They last day together were one of friendship and good-byes. They day had been fun, the fun they used to have before all of the drama. But it was her last day on Earth, her very last.

Anger, guilt, regret, sadness, and most of confusion, they were all emotions felt by all close to her death. Angry, she was gone; guilt, they thought they could have prevented it; regret, what left unsaid; sadness, for what they all had lost; confusion, a life taken so young. Five total and complete different emotions all linked by one thing, her death. It has been said that grief is a selfish emotion. The person who dies is in actuality being set free, and the grief is for the survivors. The pain of the loss was all about the survivor.

He wandered around the cemetery before he came across the headstone he had been looking for. He had crossed paths with headstone in which he recognized the family name but not the first, but he found the one he was looking for. "_Marissa Cooper, An Unfinished Life". _It was all true. Her life had been ended far too soon. And they all had to move on. It was time. It was time for goodbyes, and stop blaming themselves for her death and move on.

"It's not healthy to keep on going through this," a voice said, a body hidden in a shadow.

"I'm just going through it all one last time," he replied.

"It is time for us all to begin to move on," she replied, stepping out of the shadow.

"I am just saying goodbye," he defended himself.

"Ryan…" she said, slowly. Seth had been curious of where Ryan had ran off to in the middle of the night, but she knew. She had to admit, she had done it a few times herself. As far as any of them knew Ryan hadn't visited her grave since the funeral but she knew where he was, she just knew he was there.

"Summer…" he replied.

"We all have to continue with our lives, she wouldn't want to see you standing here still going over every detail, trying to figure out how you could have saved her. It was just meant to be like this, her gone," Summer said, attempting to get Ryan to move on, something she had been doing nearly everyday since Marissa's death. They all had been grieving in their own ways, but Ryan seemed to be not grieving, only analyzing.

"One last time," he said stubbornly.

"We can't keep on doing this to ourselves," she replied. She had her one last time a week ago. Finally she had given up on thinking there was something she could do, she had reached the final stage, acceptance.

"One last time," he repeated.

"Okay," Summer said leaving him to his thoughts. She walked closer and gave him a small half-hug. "She loved you, remember that. She loved us all. I don't think she would ever want us to forget that." And with that she left, leaving Ryan with his thoughts and hopefully to find acceptance.

"Thanks," Ryan whispered as Summer left. Not all that sure he had wanted her to hear it, but he knew she had. Her pace slowed as the words left his mouth. He turned his attention back to the headstone in front of him.

The headstone, the one that had changed his life forever stood in front of him, marking the body of Marissa Cooper, his Marissa. That night, he was dropping Marissa off and that was all. But the car crashed making a mess. He had pulled her out of the car and carried her to safety like he had done many times before. They had sat down and he held her in his arms as she took her last breath, something he never thought he would see, Marissa taking her last breath. He was the bad one; he was the one from Chino, the one from the bad side of the tracks. She was the perfect one; she had always had the designer clothes, the money, and everything she had ever wanted, be she was the one that died. The life she was suppose to live was cut short, very short.

"Goodbye Marissa," Ryan said as he touched the top of the headstone and headed for the gate. Once outside he got in his car and drove away.

Her life ended abruptly and way too soon. The fairytale life she was born to live was broken. It was a broken fairytale.

A/N- So this is the first time I have written O.C. fan fiction for like two years. I haven't even been really watching The O.C. for the last year, but I saw a preview, and it made me think. Please review.


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